United States of Jihad: Americans Fighting for Radical Islam--from al-Qaeda to ISIS

Description

In the wake of the 2009 Fort Hood shootings and the Boston bombings, a riveting, panoramic look at "homegrown" Islamist terrorism, from 9/11 to the present Since 9/11, more than 200 individuals in this country--American citizens born and raised in Minnesota, Alabama, New Jersey, and elsewhere--have been convicted of terrorism charges. Others have taken the fight abroad; Americans were among those who planned the attacks in Nairobi and Mumbai. What motivates them, how are they trained, and what do we sacrifice in our aggressive efforts to track them? Paced like a detective story, United States of Jihad tells the entwined stories of the key actors on the American front. Among the perpetrators are Anwar al-Awlaki, the New Mexico-born radical cleric who became the first American citizen executed by drone, and Shirwa Ahmed, who grew up in Minneapolis and became the first American suicide bomber. Drawing on his extensive network of intelligence contacts, from the National Counterterrorism Center and the FBI to the NYPD, Peter Bergen also offers an inside look at the sometimes controversial tactics of the agencies tracking potential terrorists--from infiltrating mosques to massive surveillance; at the imams seeking to counter violent extremism; at the critics and defenders of US policies on terrorism; and more. Lucid, rigorously researched, and packed with fascinating new details, United States of Jihad is the definitive account of al-Qaeda in America.